Being an artist means having the opportunity to unleash your emotions and express your creativity whether using a paper or a pencil or a blank canvas and a set of paint. And once the collection gets SO big and starts to eat up major space in your home, what should you do?

In this article, we have some amazing tips for you how you can take good care of your art.

Have a nice frame to go with your art

​Instead of letting your art collect dust in a spare room, why not decide which among your growing collection you can display in your house?

You can have some of your art go into your living room, another in your bedroom and maybe a small painting you did for your bathroom.

Frames are great investments on your end as an artist. If you want to frame your works on canvas, remember that these should not be framed with glass.

Make sure to stretch your canvas on the supporting frame. This minimizes fluctuations that are a result of humidity or temperature changes. When you don't stretch your canvas, the paint layer may shrink or expand, which can send your paint surfaces cracking.

​Conversely, when it comes to your artwork on paper, it is important that your frame has a glass, but without contact between the two. Place a carton on the frame support so your artwork on paper is well-protected.

Hang it with pride and care

Hanging artworks at home is a beautiful thing, but you have to keep in mind that there are two major factors you have to deal with - sunlight or direct light and humidity.

Having recognized both, make sure to follow these guidelines:

Do not clean your artworks, especially paintings with water or any other cleaning agents.

To keep your artworks on canvas clean, a simple feather duster is enough to remove all those annoying dust.

When having a general cleaning of the house, make sure to take your paintings down at least twice a year. Inspect the condition of the painting at the back. Turn your canvas painting upside down and give it a gentle shake to remove the dust.

Ever heard of wood-worm? Make sure also to inspect for these around your frames - unless of course if your frames are made of plastic.

Know when to call for professional help

Especially when it comes to your artworks that you love so much, you know you need the help of professionals when you see these "symptoms" on your art:

There are distinguishable cracks on your paint layer.

Paint layers start to detach from the canvas.

On your artwork on paper, there are yellow spots that appear on the surface or at the back.

Your canvas suddenly has waves or bumps - a re-stitching might be in order.

Keep it in the storage with TLC

And if you have no plans of displaying your artwork, make sure not to scrimp on TLC when your works are in hiding in storage.

Keep these neat tips in mind:

Do not place your artworks on the floor. These ought to be raised off the floor to facilitate air flow and protect the edges from potential water damages.

Cover your canvases with cotton sheets to prevent molds from forming.

In between paintings, make sure there are dividers in between them to prevent pressure. Cartons are great and cost-effective dividers you can use.

For artworks stored in a room for a long period of time, regularly examine the conditions of your artwork. Dust them off periodically or change the covers.

Use silica gels to protect your artworks from humidity.

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​Also, for paintings you previously had hanging in your house, but want to keep them in storage temporarily, make sure that the conditions of your storage room are not so different from your living room. A dramatic shift in the conditions may cause your artwork to deteriorate.

​Now that you know how to properly take care of your art, do you want to expand your artistic prowess so you have more to hang or keep at home?

Join us for art classes here at Art Smart, an art school for kids and adults at least 4.5 years old and above. We teach a variety of basic to advanced art techniques from drawing, painting and crafts to tile mosaics, shading and even oil pastel painting.

Our studios are located in Marikina and Shaw so choose one that is most convenient for you. Google Maps to our studios are conveniently available here.

Check out our schedules for 2016 below and when you are ready to book a class, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at 0915-5948191, 0917-8784766 or (02)7886766.